This Valentine’s Day we tried something a little different. My husband had the day off so we drove over to Celebration. There were a few specific shots I wanted to get, and I thought it would be fun to bike around. The Bohemian hotel has bike rentals. So we got two and started off along a path. It was a beautiful day. We saw the backs of a few large homes that had waterslides, and some tree-lined streets with great dappled lighting. (If only leaves changed colors down here, this is the season for raking leaves, as new growth causes leaves to fall. I’ll admit, I also figured the bikes would be a nice prop to any photos I took. It was a nice adventure riding and exploring.

I’d been waiting to feature the Market Street Cafe in a painting more prominently. I was pleased to see the renovations were finished and chairs back out awaiting customers. This is looking up Market Street with Lake Rianhard right behind me.

Have you ever experienced a literal spinning of your wheels? Saw some off-roading on a tv show last week where the truck got stuck in deep mud and they had to winch it out. Getting unstuck took a lot more than wishful thinking.

I thought I was almost done with this painting, and then a loving but trying to be the objective observer, my husband, asked about a few things. They were valid points. At the same time, I saw a Facebook post with Erin Hanson’s most recent work. Trees in a field with the sun shining behind them. So simple it could be about anywhere. Yet the colors and shadows, the way she handled the light coming through the trees was stunning. I looked at the live oak trees in the foreground. They were not happy little trees. The next morning I was back at the canvas trying to correct some problem spots. And I felt like I was spinning my wheels. I added shadows on the street, hated the angle and covered them up. Tried a horse and buggy that looked like a blob teacher to a dog. Covered up. Measured and painted over some areas. Put more color in the trees. (The genius of Hanson’s work is the vibrancy and color when it might be lacking in real life.)

Improvements were made, and I think it’s time to move onto the next canvas.

The scene is another from Celebration. standing at the corner of Celebration Ave and Market Street looking towards the lake.

This and the rest of the Celebration collection is for sale. contact me if interested.

Market Street is only a block long. It’s the heart of Celebration with a handful of brightly colored buildings that have different shops and restaurants. In December the street is closed to traffic and an “ice rink” is set up. (Closer to Christmas they have nightly snowfall, it’s actually soap foam.) Lights are strung across the street, palms line the street and tables are set outside restaurants. It’s quaint, and a nice place for slowing down.

It was a challenge to get photos to work from. Our first visit the ice rink was up. The second visit there was a small art fair/farmers market filing the street with tents, and it was overcast, no shadows. The third visit, cars lined the street, but otherwise, it was quiet, restaurants hadn’t opened yet.

The lesson to remember, reality rarely lines up with expectations. Sometimes you need to try something a few times or look for a different way of doing it. Look around, take the set back as an opportunity to try something new. After my third visit, I actually have photos from several angles of the street. Perhaps I will attempt another view in the near future.